Newman Qualifies 31st at Texas Motor Speedway

October 31, 2008

Photo courtesy of Steven Rose

FT. WORTH, Texas (Oct. 31, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, qualified 31st on Friday afternoon for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). It was the first time in four weeks that the NASCAR Cup Series has not been rained out on qualifying day.

Newman turned a quick lap of 185.695 miles per hour (29.080 seconds) at the 1.5-mile oval. Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Nicorette Chevrolet, qualified on the pole with a quick lap of 188.469 miles per hour (28.652 seconds).

"It just wasn't a good lap for the Alltel Dodge," Newman said following his qualifying effort. "There's not much more to say than that. We are going to start a lot further back than what we had hoped. We have our work cut out for us in practice tomorrow."

In 10 previous starts at Texas, Newman has one win, three top-five and three top-10 finishes. He finished fourth at TMS earlier this spring. Newman is currently 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Live coverage of the Dickies 500 begins on the ABC television network on Sunday, November 2 at 3 p.m. ET. The race can also be heard on the PRN Radio Network at 3:20 p.m.